Beaten and Broken
by Winged Lady Colette
Summary: My life, your life. General and Cadet. I fell in love and you admired. You soon loved and I was astonished. You asked my about my life before, now I can tell you...
1. The day of my birth

**Beaten and Broken**

Memory 1....

A small child knelt in front of a newly dug grave stone. Weeping brokenly. Two boys are knelt by the other small boy. Both exchanging sad looks at one another every time the weeping child begs the dead person in the grave to return to him. To never leave him alone. But the two helpless boys know the dead person will not come back. So does the weeping boy. But he still wants to believe. His hope being sapped away so quickly. Other adults watch the three boys.

"He's so sad...." a beautiful blond women whispers to her boss. He only stares as water soaks all that have come to the dead persons funeral."He needs them." she continues, acknowledging the other two boys that try to comfort their weeping friend. "He'll be so lonely without them."

* * *

Memory 2....

Small boy, skin turned red from the abuse upon it. The poor boy weeping softly, allowing no one near him. The poor naked boy. So broken that he will not allow the boys who were, no are, his friends to come near him. So scared for anyone to come into contact with him. So afraid now, but will later denie his fear in hopes of it all to disappear in a child's broken mind. But they all know, he will tell them that he will never do that again, and yet come back the next day to take the same abuse. He'll hate himself. They all know he will try to take away the pain, but they also know that he will be stop.

"They don't care...." says the small lonely boy.

* * *

Memory 3....

No one ever gave this cold boy love, why should he return it? What does he care if he hurts this hopeful girl's feelings? He shakes his head and turns. His two helpless friends follow after him, loyally. The girl left to weep. _She doesn't know pain..._he'll tell his friends when they ask why he did not give the girl a chance and how hurt she might feel. The cold boy clearly denies that the girl truly _loved _him. Why should anyone now? They never did before. So no point in having it happen now. So they leave. Always leave with a wilted flower behind.

_She will be ok,_ he will later tell his friends. _she will find someone else. She won't end up like he will._

Lonely.

* * *

Memory 4....

Why do they want to be his friends? He's never had a friend before. How is he to act? What if they don't like him? What then? Why does he need them? When he asked them of this question hoping they would not look at him strange and walk away, but to tell him their reason. To his surprise, they did not look at him strange or walk away, instead one put his arm around the confused boy and tells him why.

"We are going to be your friends so you wouldn't be lonely anymore."

* * *

I open my eyes slowly, the light burning. I quickly close them, someone chuckles. "Too bright?" The voice asks. I nod and groan. The chuckle comes again. A clicking sound.

"Better?" the other asks. I open them again to darkness. I can barely see.

"Better." I murmurer, sitting up, my back cracking and popping from stiffness. Someone makes a clicking noise with their tongue.

"You know, considering that you only slept for 4 hours, all that cracking by your bones, is unhealthy." The second voice says to me. I stretch and cause more bones to pop. I look to my friend and wait for him to comment. He looked about to but decided against it. I watch him lay down. I've gotten used to sleeping on the floor of Angeal and Genesis' room. I rarely sleep in my own room.

Angeal and Genesis would either push their beds together and I sleep in the middle, or they push their beds to the opposite walls and we all sleep on the ground.

"Are you reading?" I turn my head to Angeal who is on my left. He looks at me and smiles in the dark.

"I was."

"Sorry." I know the reason he stopped was because I woke up and the light burned my eyes. I feel bad. He's been trying to finish reading that book for a while now.

Angealshakes his head. "I'll finish later, besides, Genesis looks about to fall asleep anyway." he assures me. That's a lie. I've already read the book. I'm the one that gave Angeal the book. Gast used to read it to me when I was young. I could bare to hold onto it any longer so I gave to Angeal, he and Genesis often read it at night when I fall asleep. They don't want to read it in front of me, afraid it'll hurt my feelings. No mater how many times I try to tell them that it was ok, that they could read it in front of me, but they insist that one or the other is tired or bored of reading it and would rather sleep for a while.

"Yes, tired." Genesis mummers and adds a yawn for dramatic effect.

I feel bad, even if I fall to sleep, I know they won't open the book back up tonight. All because of me. They sense my sadness. I close my eyes as they both take one of my hands and holds them tight. I want them to pull me closer to shelter me from the outside but this is also comfortable. I take a slow deep breath. I know what they are going to do.

"Happy Birthday, Sephiroth." They both whisper softly, gripping my hands harder. A lone tear comes, but I turn my head to the side before it can get to far. I let go of their hands to pull up my blanket to be up to my armpits. I take their hands back and take another deep breath. We all elapse into silence, mourning the day of my birth.


	2. Copyright on Genesis's mind

**Beaten and Broken**

**A/N: Sorry for the slow update. No one commented but people read it, or at least went to the page. I guess it's worth at least another chapter. Just in case people want to try to read it. Please enjoy!**

Another tear comes but I whip it away on my shoulder. Their words hang in the air. They seem to be waiting for me to say something. I want to say thank you for being considerate enough to remember that today is the day of my birth that had happened 13 years ago, but what is to celebrate? I mean all that ever happens on my birthday is that I have the worse day of my life. I've had some pretty sucky days but my birthday day always cuts the cake.

We sit there quite for a while, first Genesis's grip loosens as he drifts to sleep, then Angeal. I release both their hands and silently get to my feet. I walk over to the window and sit upon the ledge. I look out into the night. Midgar still growing by the day. Most buildings close to the tower are already finished but some in the far away reaches are not, yet. I wait for her voice to come to me, like it always has.

_"Do you purposely stay awake just to talk to me?" she says._

I smile. Aerith is her name. We always talk silently at night. I can hear her inside my head, most would say that's not healthy, put I like the idea, finally someone I can talk to that will not judge me. Angeal and Genesis don't but there are some things I want to keep from them to protect them. I can't explain it yet.

"I do." I mummer.

_A giggle. "I'm flattered." she coos. "I hear today is your birthday."_

"It is. I'm 13 now." I tell her.

_"Oh! That's good! I'm going to be 7 in about a month." she tells me._

"That's good too." I mummer. Another giggle.

_"Happy Birthday, Sephy!" she cheers._

I close my eyes and lean my head against the glass. "Thank you Aerith." I say softly. I listen quietly as she starts to tell me about her day. The only relatively interesting thing that happened to her today was she found a run down church. I didn't say that to her, of course. About a half hour later, we call it a night.

_"Good night, Birthday boy!" She stifles a yawn._

That causes me to yawn. "Goodnight, Aerith."

I push myself away from the window and walk over to Angeal and Genesis. Angeal has turned away and Genesis is now on his back, both still asleep. I lay back down between them. I look up at the ceiling.

Do I abuse my friendship with Angeal and Genesis? I don't give them nearly enough friendship and attention that they both deserve, and yet, they are still here.

I look over at Angeal. His shoulder length raven black hair glistens in the moonlight. His face turned away from me. He takes a deep breath before turning toward me, eyes still shut. If I look hard enough I can almost see the dim glow of the mako in his blood through the thin space between his eye lids. I look over at Genesis.

His chest going up and down rhythmically. A look of peace on his face. His fire red hair spray around his head and on his face. He mumbles something incoherent. His face scrunches up as he stretches and turns away from me. He curls up and once again mumbles something undecipherable.

I take a deep breath and close my eyes. I await another dreamless sleep to engulf me.

* * *

I open my eyes to shifting next to me. I look over to my red headed friend. His attention at the window I was sitting at mere hours ago.

"Genesis?" I mummer, stirring up. Light breaks past the curtains into the room. He turns to look at me, a small smile on his face.

"Happy Birthday." He says softly and climbs to his feet. He steps over my legs and kneels down over Angeal, who is still sleeping. He taps our sleeping friend's face.

"Angeal?" he says softly. No reaction. We look at one another. "Angeal!" Genesis exclaims, cause Angeal to jerk from his slumber. He looked peaceful too. Jeez Genesis.

I give him a look. "Genesis." I scold. He gives me a sheepish smile.

* * *

"You about gave me a heart attack." Angeal grumbles. I look at Genesis. He smiles.

"Not my natural brand of stupidity, gotta keep you on your toes." He says. I raise an eyebrow.

"You stole that from Sponge Bob." I observe. Genesis gives me a 'no- shit- Sherlock' look.

"Point?" he asks.

"Be original."

"Why should I?"

"Cause you can't give credit to half the crap you rip off." I say pointedly. Genesis makes a face.

"Who says I should give credit?"

"Copyright program."

"Copyright, Shmopyright." Genesis shrugs it off. I shake my head. Really Genesis? Really?

I roll away from them. My bed is big enough for the three of us to be spread out on it. We do spend time here, just not as much time as we spend in their room.

Genesis sighs dreamily. "Seph, your bed is heavenly. Why sleep on the floor with us smucks?" Angeal asks. Genesis shoots him a look.

"Hey, speak for yourself." He grumbles just as Angeal had done earlier.

I ignore him. "Believe it or not, but I really am so bored with my life that you two are my only source of amusement." I joke lightly. That's not all true. I mean, my life is in fact boring but I love spending time with Angeal and Genesis. It's like.... a breath of fresh air. I'm able to get away from the science lab and to see Angeal and Genesis makes life a little more interesting. There is next to nothing that I can't say to Angeal and Genesis, and I think that makes it more worth it. I will always take time from my day just to be with them.

"Your right," Angeal says. "I don't believe it." I crack a smile.

"Make you wonder, huh?" I say coolly.

"Nope! I don't wonder anything! I know all!" Genesis boasts. Angeal pushes him off the bed. I hold back a laugh when I hear him thud against the floor and the 'oof' he utters. What sets me off is that he makes no attempt to get back up but flips Angeal off from the ground. All I can see is the birdy. I chuckle at that.

"Disrespectful." Angeal scolds, grabbing Genesis's finger. "Stop or I'll break it." he jokes. Genesis yipes and pulls his finger away. He climbs back on the bed next to me, this time. Opposite of Angeal. Genesis sticks his tongue out at Angeal. Angeal looks at him with a raised eyebrow.

"I can still break your finger from here." Angeal tells Genesis. I roll my eyes but smile.

"True," Genesis agrees. "But you would have to lean over Sephiroth to get to me, thus giving me enough time to run for my life." Angeal smiles.

"Technically, it's for your finger." I point out. Genesis looks at me like I'm an alien. I raise my eyebrow again.

"Seph, when did you get here?" Genesis asks, looking generally confused. I blink.

"Genesis, your in my room. I've been here the entire time." I say slowly. My chest tightening. Genesis has been awfully forgetful lately. Genesis blinks, confused. I sit up and look at my red headed friend. "Are you ok?" I ask. He shakes his head absently for a moment.

"Uh, yeah. Sorry, just had a brain fart." He mumbles, then offers us a smile. Angeal and I exchange worried looks. "Hey hey hey!" He catches our looks. "I'm here, don't worry, I just forgot. No big deal." He shrugs dissmissively. He grabs my arm and makes me lay down between them agian. We all look at my ceiling silently, for a while before we launched into another conversation.

Although, he doesn't do again that day. I worry about Genesis. What has caused it? It can't be mere coinsidence..... can it?

**A/N: Thank's for reading. Have a good day. Please rate and review on the way.**


	3. Save the boy Sephiroth

**Beaten and Broken**

**A/N: Sorry for the slow update!! Please excuse my lateness, and enjoy!**

_"You would never believe, the first time I saw you...."_

We walk down the sidewalk toward the groceries store. Of course, Genesis had to have a craving for food we didn't have and wouldn't settle for anything else. He must 'satisfy the beast within' as he had put it. After his constant crying I finally told Angeal that we could just run down there and get the food. So here we are. Angeal and Genesis are pushing each other slightly, not trying to make a big scene.

"If you two make any bigger of a distraction, I'll push you both into the street." I threaten jokingly. Both of them moan in protest. I roll my eyes playfully. "Yeah, yeah, Sephiroth's the meanest in the world." Angeal and Genesis start cracking up like that was the funniest thing in the world which I know it wasn't.

Both Angeal and Genesis put their arm around my shoulders. The three of us walk on down the street. Angeal nudges me in the side after a few minutes of walking. He nods at a man and woman with a baby's stroller. A blond blue eyed baby looks at us as we stop just across the street from them. He looked about 4 or 5 years old. A mirror image of the woman.

The man and woman look to be arguing. I'm not sure why, but something about the way they threw their hands in the air and yelled at one another, makes me stare. Angeal and Genesis seem to be stuck in the same kind of trance that I'm in. Almost like one of those movies that no matter what is going on, you can't pull your eyes away.

Then the man does something I never would have seen coming; he smacked the woman. Genesis and I gasp while in the corner of my eye I see Angeal's jaw drop.

The woman holds her cheek, her blue eyes wide. The baby's eyes grow wide and he starts to cry, as if the impact on his mother hit him as well. He tries to turn in his seat and reaches out to her. "Momma!! Momma!!" the little boy cries. The man looks at him, almost hatefully. As if the man could do more that I did not see coming, he does it again; he kicks the stroller right into the seat. The woman screams and makes a move to grab the carriage but the man holds her back.

The little boy wipes away tears and cries harder, he looks around helplessly. We just stare at the scene. I can't comprehend what is going on before me. Is this for real? The sound of a car off in the distance, closing in quickly. The woman continues to get to her child, the man easily over powering the smaller woman. The little boy's cries echo through my ears like a sudden wake up call. Almost like he's begging me to save him from assured death. If the car hitting him isn't what kills the poor boy, it would be the landing and possible skidding across the ground.

I feel like I'm being pulled toward the boy, like he is the opposite magnet to me and we attract one another. Then the sound in my head is what sets me into action.

_"Save the boy......Sephiroth."_

The car closes in and it's alarmingly close, but I jump to the middle of the street, grab the little boy out of the stroller, kick the stroller to the other side, passed the man and woman and race over to that side, Angeal and Genesis not even a heartbeat behind me. We go past the man and woman as soon as the car zooms past us. The woman let's out a horrified scream and searches aimlessly for her missing child.

"Cloud? Cloud?! Cloud?!?!" She screams frantically. I look to the little boy. He does something I don't expects. He smiles at me.

"Thank you." He says softly. His eyes only slightly puffy from crying only moments before. He looks to the frantic woman. "Momma!" The woman's head snaps in our direction.

"My baby!!" She exclaims and finally gets loose of the man's grip and rushes over to us. She gently takes the boy from me when I hand him over to her. "Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!!" she hugs the little boy tightly but offers me a small smile. She wraps a loose arm around my neck and kisses my forehead. I blink. Why do such a strange thing?

"Oof!" The man grunts. I look over at Angeal and Genesis sitting upon the man's back, holding his hands behind him. They both smile at me. I stare back.

"Your a hero!" Genesis exclaims.

"Someone to not reckon with!" Angeal adds.

"All Hail Sephiroth!!" Both exclaim. I blink. What did I do? What are they talking about?

"Sephiroth?" the woman looks at me, unsure. I look over at her, calmly.

"Yes, Ma'am?" I ask.

She smiles. "Just testing." She says softly. She tickles the little boy beneath the chin. He lets out a fit of giggles. An innocent sound. Something I don't think I've ever heard. "You saved my little Cloud, how in the world am I to ever repay you?" she says, I now notice the heavy accent in her voice. Most country folk have this kind of accent. I wasn't in Nibelhiem long enough to get an accent.

I shack my head. "No need to. It was just a deed that should have never needed to be done in the first place. I could not just stand there and not do anything." I say softly. She looks a little guilty. "But, may I sudgest you try your hardest to make sure such an event is to never occure again." I add. I don't mean to make her feel worse, but it must be said.

"Finely put, but no worries, we will also be here to make sure that it does not occur again." says a voice. I look to the shadows behind me as a blond woman in a black suit appears. It's Gun. For some reason, I want to apologise to her. She smiles at me and the woman. Then walks over to Angeal and Genesis. "Way to go, boys." she praises getting them to smile like fanboys.

They both scurry off the man as Gun kneels down and cuffs him. "Let's see, you've done, domestic- violence, child abuse and neglecting, and caused a public disturbance, all in about 5 minutes. That's got to be some kind of record." she says to the man, then helps him to his feet. "You're looking at a decent amount of time in jail."

She starts to lead him away. The man protesting about unrighteous judgment.

"I'm not hungry anymore." Genesis announces. I let my shoulders drop and give him a look.

"Thanks for sharing with the class, Genesis." Angeal snorts. He smiles.

"Any time."

We say our goodbyes and we head to the store in case Genesis changes his mind.

Again.

**A/N: How was that? Once again, I'm sorry for the slow update. Please rate and review! Have a great day!**


	4. Be Prepared

Beaten and Broken

**A/N: Sorry about the slow update!! Please forgive me, and enjoy!**

_"... the look in your eyes, the way you smiled at me..."_

I roll my eyes. Genesis starts cracking up.

"What do you think about that, Seph?" Angealasks, turning in my rotating chair to look at me. I shake my head.

"I think Genesis is full of crap." I say.

Genesis shakes his head. "Not true." he laughs.

I shoot him a playful glare. "Don't tell me wither my opinion is right or wrong, You Red Headed Freak."

He laughs harder then puts up a fake sober face. "I can do what ever the hell I want, You White Haired Freak!" He laughs, taking a few strands of my hair into his hand and waving it in front of my face like I'm oblivious as to it being there.

"Dorks." Angeal mutters.

Genesis and I turn on him. "Shut up, You Raven Haired Freak!" we both exclaim. Genesis bursts out laughing. I can't help but smile and let out a small laugh as well.

Angeal grabs a piece of paper from my desk, crumples it up, then throws it at Genesis's head.

He catches it and waves it at Angeal to prove he caught it.

"Hey," I grunt. "That's mine."

Genesis throws it back to Angeal who opens it up and raises an eyebrow. "Hooker. com?" he looks at me like he expects an explanation.

I blink. "O...k... that's not mine."

Genesis shoves his hand into the air and waves it around. "Oh! Oh! That's mine!"

I grab the pillow I was sitting on and throw it at his unsuspecting head. He falls off my bed.

"Quit looking at crap on my computer then printing it off with my printer only to leave it on my desk for other to see it and think that it's mine, Genesis." I snap playfully.

He smiles at me. "I'll do anything for you, Seph-ir-oth...." he purrs. I roll my eyes.

Angeal shrugs and throws it away.

"Asshole." Genesis mutters looking at our raven haired friend.

He imitates one of Genesis's cocky smiles. That makes Genesis glare more.

Then he smiles. "So Seph," he says turning to me. "you saved that little boy's life!" he points out again for the umpteenth time.

I nod. "Yes, Genesis, I'm aware I saved him. It should of never have had to happen. We were just there at the right time and were able to intervene when we did."

"If we weren't there or didn't intervine when we did, or at all even, would that boy still be here?" Angeal asks.

I shake my head. "I'm leaning more on the fact that his mom may have been unable to get away from that man to save her son."

Angeal and Genesis both nod. Genesis had climbed back onto my bed.

A light knock onto my door. Angeal and Genesis both look at me.

"Expecting company?" Angeal asks. I shake my head.

Climbing to my feet I walk on my bed until I get to the foot of it and jump off and head for the door. I open it up to reveal Gun.

"Hi, Sephiroth." she greets. "Hi Angeal, hi Genesis." she also greets without even looking into my room to see if they were actual there. She offers a smile.

"Gun," I say surprised. "uhm.... please, come in." I step away from the door to allow her to enter my room/ apartment.

She gives a cheeky grin. "Why, thank you, Sephiroth."

Standing before me, I can see how clearly she is only about 5 inches taller then me, and only 2 years older.

She walks into my room and over to my bed, she sits down next to Genesis and crosses her legs, smoothly. Angeal and Genesis wiggle their eyebrows at one another while I close the door and walk over to the rug on the floor and from there I stand and talk with her.

"So, what is it?" I ask.

"First," she says, coolly, "I gave my report to Verdoit and he was please with your participation with our ways of justice."

I nod. "Okay, and second?"

"Well, Hojo took it into particular interest, as well. He wants you to stop by the training lab for another quick test before you head off to bed." Gun explains simply.

I sigh. "More tests?"

Gun shakes her head, her expression suddenly falls blank from her earlier happiness. "Only one. You will be tested on all that makes you, you. Physical strength, speed, agility, and even smarts. You fill face an opponent that will hopefully make you think outside the box."

I blink. "Wait, opponent? I'm fighting a person?"

Gun nods. "Yes, who you are to fight is aware they are to fight you. Now, I know I don't have to tell you this, but the person you are to fight is ready and will give their all. You must do that too. Don't worry about hurting them. What would hurt more then a physical wound would be you throwing the fight." she says intensely. A dark shadow crosses her face.

I find myself at a loss of words. I lower my head. What am I to say to that? All the other things I've fought, were not human they were unworthy beasts and robots. Nothing of any real importance. I could crush them easily, but this is another human being, someone that is with the company, and they expect me to fight with my all?

"Man, woman or child." She says lowly, her voice having a strange tang to it. I look at her slowly.

"Man, woman or child." she repeats to add emphasis to it. "Whoever it is, you must be prepared to fight like you would loose your life if you didn't fight at your all, got it?" she says an octave lower then normal.

She unfolds her legs and stands up. "You understand, right Sephiroth?" she says normally.

I nod, rushed. "Yes."

She smiles. "Sorry about that, I needed to make sure you understood." she says like she would if she were hiding a little secret.

I nod. "I understand." I lie. In reality, I don't. Why would she have to get so.... _intense?_

"So, who is he going to fight?" Genesis asks, getting Gun's attention.

She looks over at him. She leans in slowly so their noses almost touch. A crimson wave crashes over his cheeks.

"It's a secret, you gotta get there, to see." she says and gives a goofy smile.

She turns and heads to the door. She turns around and sticks her tongue out at us.

"Hey!" we all say in a chorus. She waves.

"Bye guys, see ya!" she giggles and walks out.

We all look at one another.

"Woman." Genesis snorts.

I roll my eyes and Angeal tackles him. The two of them wrestle off my bed and onto the floor.

I shake my head. "Alright, Love Birds, let's go."

Both pause their mini wrestling and name calling game to look at me. "Now?" they both ask. I nod and walk for the door.

They scramble after me.

* * *

"I got your message, Professor." I announce walking into the training lab. Hojo looks over at me and waves me foreword.

"Good, good, now Sephiroth, go into the lower panel and we'll begin."

I nod and give an absent wave. "Yes, Professor, as you wish."

"Good luck, Sephiroth!" Genesis and Angeal cheer me on. I smile at them and walk down to lower panel.

It's basically a large dome like area and it's made of the second hardest medals we have at our disposal. It's beneath a stage area where the people that watch, stay. A glass panel that is the only thing that keeps the watchers from the actual fighters or trainers.

I walk to the far side. "So who am I fighting?" I ask then turn around and stop.

"Hello Sephiroth." says the person before me. My jaw drops.

"Gun?"

**A/N: Ohhh!! The anticipation! Hehe, please rate and review! Have a nice day!**


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